I’ll Defeat AbdulRazaq Before 1pm On Election Day – Saliu Mustapha

Senator Saliu Mustapha has expressed confidence that he will defeat Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in the 2027 Kwara Central Senatorial election.

He declared that he would have secured victory hours before the final results are announced.

The governor is the APC candidate for the 2027 Kwara Central Senatorial race.

Mustapha made the declaration on Channels Television on Friday night, while explaining his recent defection from the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the political realignment involving aggrieved stakeholders within the ruling party in Kwara.

Asked what if the governor beats him, Mustapha said, “I would have won that election 12 o’clock before 1 o’clock, In Sha Allah in the senatorial race. It will be one election Nigerians would be waiting to see the results”.

The former APC chieftain, who is now the PDP candidate for Kwara Central following a substitution process, said his movement to the opposition party was part of a “rainbow coalition”.

He said his action should not be interpreted as a rejection of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“I have not dumped President Tinubu,” he said.

According to him, the coalition comprises members of the Otoge Progressives (TOP), the G15 group of APC governorship aspirants and members of the party’s elders caucus whom, he alleged, had become alienated by the manner in which AbdulRazaq was running the APC in the state.

Mustapha said the coalition considered several political platforms before settling for the PDP, which he described as the most suitable platform for their political arrangement.

He said the objective was to challenge the “shenanigans” surrounding the emergence of a new political dynasty in Kwara while maintaining support for Tinubu at the presidential level.

Mustapha also maintained that not every member of the G15 had formally defected from the APC, but said members of the group and other stakeholders were favourably disposed to supporting the PDP candidate.

“What I will tell you categorically is that every member of the G15, every member of the elders caucus, every member of TOP, are all favourably disposed to working for the candidate in the PDP today,” he said.

He attributed the development to inadequate consultation and poor management of political interests within the APC by the Governor.
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Mustapha further dismissed suggestions that the Presidency had endorsed Speaker Yakubu Danladi Salihu as the APC governorship candidate in Kwara.

“The Villa did not endorse Danladi as the candidate for us,” he said, insisting that he was an active participant in the process.

He accused AbdulRazaq of using his position as APC leader in the state to influence the governorship selection process, alleging that the governor initially encouraged several aspirants from Kwara Central to contest in order to prevent his own emergence.

Mustapha also rejected the argument that the governorship should automatically rotate to Kwara North.

He said that Kwara politics had historically been driven by competence rather than zoning.

He cited AbdulRazaq’s 2023 victory over Shaibu Yaman, a Kwara North candidate, as evidence that voters had previously chosen candidates based on their assessment of competence.

The senator also addressed the controversy surrounding an alleged agreement that he would serve only one term in the Senate.

Mustapha denied the authenticity of the document being circulated, alleging that it contained discrepancies in his name and other details.

He, however, acknowledged that there had been an understanding that he would seek the Senate seat for one term in preparation for a future governorship bid.

According to him, the understanding did not amount to an agreement preventing him from subsequently contesting for governor.

Mustapha described his decision to leave the APC as difficult but collective, saying the move followed consultations among political actors who felt excluded from the party’s decision making process in Kwara.

He said the emerging coalition was determined to challenge the existing political structure in the state ahead of the 2027 elections.